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Follow the Leader
After Dr. Smith loses a laser pistol in a cave, he and John must go in to look for it. There is a cave in and John is trapped; Smith refuses to help and runs away. John searches for another exit and finds a chamber containing artefacts from an ancient civilization. A powerful alien voice calls him by name and demands that he surrender control of his body before rendering John unconscious. At the Jupiter 2, Smith tells the Robinsons that John is trapped in the cave. They rush to the cave to rescue him, working all day to try to unseal the entrance of the cave. When night comes, the family is exhausted. Despite their unwillingness to to stop, the darkness forces them to return to the ship. Everyone is surprised but overjoyed when John arrives at the Jupiter 2 on his own. He is dirty and tired, but seems to be unhurt. The next morning, however, John shows violent mood swings and frightens everyone. Doctor Smith says John must be having a nervous breakdown, and after a while, the other start to wonder if he may be right. When John Robinson sleeps, the deep alien voice takes a stronger hold over his mind. It gives him instructions, saying that he must begin preparations to leave the planet as quickly as possible. John does so, designing an incredible machine that can easily synthesize Deutronium fuel. He orders everyone to work day and night so they can lift-off in a week. When Don and Maureen question his orders, he becomes violently angry! Doctor Smith offers to treat John as a psychiatrist, and discovers that the poor Professor is being controlled by the evil alien spirit of a being called Canto. Canto informs Smith that if he tells anyone else what is really going on, he will be destroyed! Terrified, Smith agrees to keep quiet. That night, John Robinson leaves the spaceship in secret and goes back to the ruins where everything started. Will follows him, and John catches him and accuses him of spying. He yells angrily at Will, and orders the boy back to the spaceship. After Will goes, Canto takes over John’s mind completely. In the morning, Maureen, Judy and Don go out to the ruins to find their missing commander. John informs them his name is Canto now, and that John Robinson is gone forever. Maureen and Judy try very hard to get through to him, but it is no use. Canto beats up Major West, and then leaves the ruins, sealing all three up inside behind him. In the morning the gold-masked alien, Canto arrives at the Jupiter 2, and tries to trick Smith and the children into thinking their parents, sister and Major West have been kidnapped. Canto tries to convince them to come on board the Jupiter 2 with him so they can fly away to rescue the others. Will refuses to go along, knowing that Canto is speaking nothing but lies, and that something strange is going on. Canto says he Will show will proof, and Will reluctantly goes along with him. Canto takes Will to the top of a high ledge, where he intends to push the boy to his death. Will has figured this out already, and he has also deduced that Canto is really John Robinson. He asks to see his father’s face one last time before he dies, and Canto agrees and removes the mask. Will looks into his father’s eyes and tells him he loves him. Will’s words reach the professor’s consciousness, and John throws the evil golden mask over the edge of the cliff, freeing himself from the evil spirit of Canto. Father and son embrace, safe and reunited once again. (This is said to be one of Guy William's best performances of the series.) If you liked "Follow The Leader" - here's a continuation of that story by a fan: http://www.bookscape.net/lis/unintended_consequences1.htm Background Information *This episode is the last to be filmed in black and white. *The cliffhanger is reused from the end of "One of Our Dogs Is Missing", leading into "Attack of the Monster Plants". *During the fight in the cave between Professor Robinson and Major West, West's sword is pulled away by Professor Robinson's weapon. In the next shot it reappears in Major West's hand. *When Professor Robinson is walking into the Jupiter 2 campsite wearing the alien uniform, his shadow appears on the background. *This episode is the third time the Robinsons have found remnants of an ancient civilization on Priplanus with all of them stashed or hidden away in caves or underground. In "There Were Giants in the Earth" they find ruins inside of a cave like the ones here. Perhaps the inhabitants moved inside to avoid the wild climate outside. However it is not clear if the ruins are related to one another, which might be expected given that they are all certainly within a few hundred miles of each other. *Gregory Morton will return to do additional voice-over work as Judge Iko in "The Prisoners of Space", as well as many other voices in the series *Why did it take the Robot so long to detect that something was amiss with John? *How did Don, Maureen and Judy get out of the tightly sealed ruins? *The end of "Follow the Leader" is similar to the end of Return of the Jedi. John Robinson (mind-controlled by Canto) wants to sacrifice his son, but love frees him from the dark side, just as Darth Vader want to sacrifice his son, but love frees him from the dark side. John Robinson tosses the evil Canto helmet into an abyss, as Vader tosses the Emperor into an abyss. *In the very next episode, “Blast Off into Space,” we see Don and Judy drilling for Deutronium again. Why would they be drilling for fuel? What happened to the amazing machine Canto invented that synthesizes Deutronium for them? Gallery Canto-5.jpg|John without Canto mask. Canto-2.jpg|John, possessed by Canto, prepares to kill Will. Canto-5b.jpg|John defeats 'Canto' and saves Will 1947909_418117391657458_1740385425_n.png 10003124_742683029110042_795376145_n.jpg 10167952_424546801014517_1940473292_n.jpg Follow1.jpg Follow2.jpg Follow3.jpg John_The_Warrior.jpg Billy&Guy.jpg GuyWilliams-16.jpg 1901604_241345536045214_2014316458_n.jpg 1947909 418117391657458 1740385425 n.png 59213 10152762654560175 1530802705 n.jpg 400657 10152224977608630 342519451 n.jpg 10659176 832354300110797 959738820088112542 n.jpg